Valve’s Steam Machine has finally made its way into the hands of testers, and the resulting reviews have been less than inspiring. Whether it’s the high $1,049 starting price caused by a global RAM and storage crisis or the underwhelming performance, I know that a lot of PC gamers are now looking for a quality alternative.
These are the 5 best pre-built gaming PCs I could find during Prime Day that will leave you with some cash left over for new games. Only one is priced high enough to match the Steam Machine’s introductory price, but in this case, you get 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.
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The rest? Well, they cost significantly less than Valve’s device. See for yourself, and happy gaming!
CPU: Intel Core i5-14400F
GPU: Intel Arc B570 (10GB)
RAM: 16GB DDR4
SSD: 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe
A snappy Intel Core i5 CPU paired with an Arc B570 discrete GPU with 10GB of VRAM is a great little combo for PC gaming.
CPU: Intel Core i5-14400F
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 5060 (8GB)
RAM: 16GB DDR4
SSD: 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe
This is a fairly compact pre-built gaming PC featuring a solid Core i5 CPU and an RTX 5060 GPU that easily beats the integrated graphics in the Steam Machine.
CPU: Intel Core i5-14400F
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti (8GB)
RAM: 16GB DDR4
SSD: 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe
The NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti GPU in this model will absolutely blow away the integrated Radeon graphics in the Steam Machine, and you get full access to all of the DLSS 4.5 goodies.
CPU: Intel Core i5-14400F
GPU: Intel Arc B580 (12GB)
RAM: 32GB DDR4
SSD: 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe
The Intel Arc B580 GPU with 12GB of VRAM is a huge upgrade over the Steam Machine, and you also get 32GB of DDR4 RAM for less than Valve’s price.
CPU: Intel Core i5-14400F
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 5060 (8GB)
RAM: 32GB DDR4
SSD: 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe
Want to double up on RAM for 32GB? This model has that and an RTX 5060 GPU with full access to DLSS 4.5 improvements.
What’s in the Steam Machine, and how does performance compare to these discounted gaming PCs?
Valve’s Steam Machine runs on a custom AMD Zen 4 CPU with 6 cores, 12 threads, and a 30W TDP. Attached are integrated custom AMD RDNA 3 graphics, with 8GB of VRAM and 28 compute units.
All Steam Machine models come with 16GB of DDR5 system memory, and the introductory models start with a 512GB SSD (upgradeable to 2TB for those with deeper pockets).
Circling back to the custom graphics, testing by our friends at Tom’s Hardware revealed that it fails to pull ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600 discrete GPU while coming out just ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6600.
How does that performance compare to the GPUs in the pre-built gaming PCs I’ve rounded up here? Well, the RTX 5060 easily beats the AMD GPU in raw performance and ray tracing abilities.
If you’re interested in a pre-built gaming PC with an Intel Arc GPU, the B570 is a closer match to the RX 7600 and the Steam Machine’s custom graphics. However, it should better handle ray tracing, and it should also deliver a better experience if you’re gaming at 1440p.
If it’s the Arc B580 in the $999 ABS Cyclone Aqua you’re looking at, know that it beats AMD’s GPU in practically all metrics.
As for the CPU, it seems like the Intel Core i5-14400F is the chip of choice for the pre-builts I’ve selected here. Good news! Despite its relative age, it should absolutely crush the Steam Machine’s custom AMD chip.
My advice? Skip the Steam Machine and go for a real gaming PC instead.
Valve’s Steam Machine was knocked off course by no fault of its own, and you can point the finger at the global RAM and SSD shortage caused by AI.
At its starting $1,049.99 price, it’s simply outclassed by affordable pre-built gaming PCs with true discrete graphics. It’s a shame, because the Steam Machine is a great-looking device.
Unless you’re absolutely beholden to the compact form factor and close ties to Steam’s storefront, one of these gaming PCs I selected should be a much better value.
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